The bishops' political strategy and the Church tax exemption

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Mar 05, 2012

Responding to my argument that the US bishops should adopt a tougher new political strategy, reader Joseph Michael Gentilini made a good point:

If the bishops get tangled in urging Catholics to support or not support any particular politician in any election, they risk losing their tax-exempt status and rightly so.

That’s true. The bishops cannot afford to become involved in partisan political campaigning. (Among other things, the effort could backfire, actually helping liberal candidates.) However:

1. While they should not tell Catholics to vote for a particular candidate, bishops and priests can remind the faithful that it is culpably wrong to vote for candidates who support gravely immoral policies. The USCCB can issue a new “voter guide,” clearing up the confusion that still flows from the existing Faithful Citizenship document. Still more important, they can issue public rebukes to the Catholic lawmakers who espouse unacceptable policies. In short, the bishops can show that they are taking the moral issues of the campaign seriously.
2. If Catholic schools, hospitals, and charitable agencies are forced to close down because they cannot comply with an unjust federal policy, they won’t be needing their tax-exempt status anymore.
3. If the tax exemption can be protected only by remaining silent in the face of injustice, then to hell with the tax exemption. ”For what would it profit a man…”